Still Breathing, Still Living
by CK - Ace
Summary: Post Resident Evil 6. They've have found him from where he was lost and he was now lost again. And he need to find his way back to where he belonged. But as time passed, he realized that he didn't want to as much as he would. A two-shot (maybe three-shot) featuring Piers Nivans. Written by the request of CoolCat0720.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N: First things first, this fic was create per request of CoolCat0720. The main idea of the whole story came up from CoolCat and all I did was adding some of my bits here and there.**

**If you're also a fan of Jake/Sherry (which I've been shipping very hard), go check CoolCat's 'Dance For Me'. You won't regret it.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything out of Resident Evil. All of the contents belonged to Capcom.**

**Still Breathing, Still Living**

_Part One_

* * *

**1 March 2014  
China Waters**

"Man. This place is a big mess."

Through the endless piles of rubbles and metals, several divers swam in circles as they scanned the ruined underwater facility. What they could all made out from the first sight are only big chunks of stones and steel. Dividing themselves into small groups, they turned their headlights brighter as they gave signals to each other to inspect the sunken facility further. Several submarines are on the scene to provide the divers lighting and the help if they needed.

"We're going in, Captain. There's no life sign down here." The head of the divers announced through his earpiece.

"Good, be careful out there."

Chris Redfield himself was on the main ship floating on the sea. Adorned in his old BSAA uniform, Chris himself volunteered to lead the searching team himself.

One part he did was to find any traces of Neo-Umbrella left that could be useful for the BSAA to hunt them down. But the biggest part in this mission, Chris wanted to find his deceased comrade a year ago. A comrade who had gave his life so that he could save his Captain.

Chris eyes squeezed shut for a moment, deep in thoughts. He will find him. He definitely will. "Search the place inside out, I don't want to left even a stone unturned. Is that clear?" He ordered as he monitored the wide screen in front of him, showing the scene recorded down in the sea. The divers were provided with waterproof recorders and the best diving equipment the BSAA could afford. Chris really went all out in this search.

Piers Nivans deserved better than a watery grave.

Hours passed and the BSAA divers did made some accomplishments, securing a few unbroken vials of whatever chemical they are and electrical devices like laptops that they believed would still work if they do some homework on it. They come across countless bloated bodies of the J'avos and BOW, parts of them too. But none of them belonged Piers Nivans.

Even Chris himself had the urge to dive in and search for himself.

"Wait a minute, what the hell was that?!"

The second cameraman suddenly spoke, causing the bulky man to nearly jump from his seat. He leans in closer to the bright screen and upon further inspection, he sees a very familiar sparks from a distance. One that resembles electric sparks. The BSAA Captain heartbeat increase by the second as he reached for the mic beside him, "It got to be him. All units, assemble at where Team 2 are. Assist them."

"Aye, aye, captain."

The rest of the divers joined the fray according to Chris' order. The sparks happen another few times before dying out, then it happen again. As two divers worked to remove the rubbles away from the source of light, another duo moved in to inspect whatever that was causing the electrical sparks.

Eyes closed, breathless, Piers is trapped helplessly underneath the very BOW that nearly took his life a year ago.

* * *

The whole operation had undergone for nearly eight hours long, but Chris felt that it is worth it. The eight hours are so far one of his best accomplishment he had in year 2014.

Aboard the main ship, Chris Redfield, alongside with other BSAA veterans visited the body of the heavily mutated Piers Nivans inside a incubator. Although Chris didn't know exactly what's the purpose of keeping Piers' dead body inside a huge glass and metal box will do any good to his comrade, but it is said that it can help to preserve Piers' temperature so that he won't decay from the exposure to the atmospheric temperature and to maintain the constantly surging electricity inside his body.

Cutting-edge technology. Right. Whatever.

"It's alright now, Piers. You can rest in peace. We have found you." Chris whispers to himself, lamenting. He breathes heavily before turning to the doctors, "We'll put him inside the bag, just like any fallen soldier do."

The white coats were all dumbstruck as their stare at the captain widen, "W-What?! That would be outrageous. It will damage the specimen, Captain-"

"Piers is not a fucking BOW." A low growl became the response. Chris' left fist tighten as he took one step ahead of them, challenging the doctors who anxiously responded by retreating backwards. The five doctors were all intelligent people and since Chris Redfield was so famed for his previous achievements (including the fact that he killed Albert Wesker), they knew it was better for them to oblige his request.

One of the doctors who was standing nearest to Chris pushed his spectacles awkwardly to his eyes, "Do whatever you want, Captain Redfield." He said begrudgingly. Chris wasn't totally oblivious to that, but he refused to argue with the mad scientists further.

As long as Piers was honored.

* * *

"How long do we still have to go?"

"We're still 54 miles away from the mainland, sir. ETA approximately three hours if we keep this speed going."

It was past midnight and the BSAA was still in the water. The crews worked in shifts and most of them had already returned to the lower deck to rest. It's been a long day for most of them. Except for Chris Redfield, he was restless. He remained on the Captain's room with other attendants to monitor the sea. The weather was all good, there were stars in the sky and it's a good sign; there won't be a storm any time soon.

Now, all he had to do was to wait.

Then in a sudden, the attendant monitoring the sonar spoke up to him urgently, "Captain, we got an unknown incoming ship from our rear! It's approaching our ship at a very fast rate. Should we send them a signal?"

A ship? At times like these?

He was about to issue his order when a massive shaking occured on his ship. Luckily, he manged to grab on a pole to prevent from stumbling over when an explosion happened somewhere on his ship. When the ship regained its equilibrum, that's when Chris realized that the foreign ship was a hostile ship.

"Alert the others now! Prepare to engage hostiles!" He breathed rapidly as he ran past his crew out of the room. As expected, the whole crew now was alarmed and panicked. Screams of horror and shouts of order echoed all over the ship but Chris shouldered past them as he rushed over to where the armory was located. The soldiers had already assembled there passing weapons to each other as they went to the stairs to the main deck.

Chris himself was passed an assault rifle too as he issued his next orders to the units present, "We'll go to the deck to prepare if the hostile try to jack our ship, the rest of you will diffuse the tension on the ship and get the people to the escape pod, alright?"

"Sir!"

* * *

It was a chaos around the main deck as the BSAA struggled to keep themselves in line as the foreign ship pummeled their ship relentlessly. The preemptive attack earlier had the crew completely caught off guard and people were scrambling around the ship to find the escape pods instead of preparing to counter their enemy.

From what that he could see from the deck, Chris was very sure that the hostile ship was a Chinese ship, judging from the Chinese words adorned on the sides of the ship, although he couldn't tell what they meant. "What are they? Pirates?" Through his earpiece, he could still hear the screams over at the Captain Room as he tried contact the attendant.

"No, sir! Our observation told us it's the J'avos!"

Another cannon was fired from the J'avos and Chris ducked to avoid further impact. Smoke began to fill the air as the BSAA ship caught on fire. Chris maintained his composure as he rushed over to where the cannon hit and was thoroughly devastated to find that the ship had been breached. Water rushing in through where the cannon had hit and it's just the matter of time before the ship sink.

_'Nice job for some mutants. Able to turn us around in just an ambush.'_

Situation began to get out of had as the ship lost its buoyancy and began lossing its balance as water filled in. Redfield knew that his ship was lost and he silently prayed the J'avos stop making things any worse. Even through the sea of fire and chaos, he could hear the cheering on the other side of the ship. Damn J'avos.

He'll need to focus of getting all the crews out of here now, the escape pods was on the a level above the space where they kept their secures specimens and...

"Shit! Piers!"

They had removed Piers from the incubator and he was encased in the plastic bag like any fallen soldiers did; but the catch was his body was still in the same room just a level below where the escape pods were. Chris' could feel the thumping of his own heart but he chose to ignore it. He knew that he need to get to the lower levels if he needed to reach Piers' location.

He knew that he's being utterly selfish but there's no way that he'll let Piers return to the sea again.

He descended the staircase as quickly as he could but was blocked by hordes of people trying to get into one of the pods. Chris was annoyed of course that these people were literally fighting their way through like savages on a prey. He pushed past the first wave but then another BSAA operative suddenly grabbed his forearm.

"Sir, it's too dangerous out here, you need to get to the pods!"

Chris yelled angrily when his subordinates failed to fulfill his duty, "I need to get Piers outta here! You were supposed to keep them in control!" He pointed at the crowd. The timid BSAA could only shook his head in defense, "I did but the people are now alarmed that the ship was sinking fast! The lower level that we kept Nivans' body had already flooded in water!"

Wait, what?

Taking advantage of the dazed Chris, the young BSAA operative quickly pulled his Captain into one of the many pods along with 6 other operative who managed to squeeze themselves in. Then a familiar deja vu struck his senses again as Chris finally realized that he was repeating the same thing as what happened a year ago.

His comrades gave their lives to save his.

He didn't even had the time to recompose himself when the door closed on him and his pod was launched away into the water, away from the burning ship.

Chris could only stare in disbelief.

* * *

**Several days later  
Somewhere on China**

Squeals and giggling echoed through the lonely beach as a pair of happy couple enjoying their time together at the sand and sea water. After splashing each other playfully in the water, they proceeded to help themselves to the towel that they left on the golden sand.

"Pretty nice place you've got here, Jun Shan." The young brunette commented as she kissed his boyfriend on the corner of his lips, a hand planted on the man's chest and another propped itself on the towel. The man identified as Jun Shan could only smirk as he tickled her sides, "Yup, it's my dad's. But he decided to give the house to me on my last birthday." He took a quick glance over his shoulder to the small mansion up the grassy cliff. It wasn't as big as any private mansion but the decor was as good as any, "It's pretty cool, huh, Ai Lin?"

"Very."

Then he leaned in to kiss her again, deepening it again this time.

It was nice and all, the make-out session was like one on any romantic movies with the golden sunset as the background and they can only be seen as a dark silhouttes.

But it didn't last long before the corner of Ai Lin's eyes suddenly caught a black object on the beach that wasn't previously there. And it certainly didn't belonged to the whole scene. She deliberately pushed her disappointed boyfriend away as she turned her attention to the unknown object by the beach, eyeing it curiously.

Jun Shan followed her gaze and spotted the same thing as she had, he whispered, "What was that?" She shrugged, shoulders raising for a moment before falling back down.

They carefully dragged themselves to the wet sand for a closer examination and it frightened the woman when she realized the shape of the black object.

A body inside a bag. Most probably dead.

But Jun Shan was a curious one as he dared to approached the bag as opposed to his girlfriend, carefuly trying to turn the bag to find the zipper that he knew that was there. Ai Lin watched a few steps away as she covered her mouth with her palms in fear. Then Jun Shan sigh in relief when he discovered the soaked emblem tattered on the bag.

"It must be the military. I saw one of these when I served the army. See? It the logo of this... BSAA." Jun Shan explained when he finally found the small piece of metal on the end of the bag. And from what it looked like, he was about to pull the zipper when Ai Lin suddenly stopped him, "Why don't we just turn it in to the police? This could lead us trouble." She warned with a thick Chinese accent.

But Jun Shan was adamant himself, "You can only get this kind of bags from the military. Don't worry about it. How about you go and report to the feds while I... take a look on this?" He held onto the zipper tightly as he shooed his girlfriend to a safe distance where she could barely see them. She was more than glad as the petite woman dashed to the mansion up the cliff for the phone.

Then he took a very deep breath, expecting the worst that will come. Perhaps it would be a body with the brains blown out of maybe some parts dismembered or maybe disemboweled? He didn't know.

But as he pulled the zipper in one swift motion, he nearly throwed up.

It was worse. This man. Whoever he was.

The right side of the once handsome face was so horribly mutilated with purple and green and red and there was only whites on the right eye, the iris was gone. And the right arm was mutated that it resembled some squid appendage, the whole arm was beyond repairable and the exposed goo-ish flesh? Eww.

In an instance, the body looked very similar to the J'avos in the pictures shown by the media across the globe.

Stunned, Jun Shan froze at where he was. Regretting that he didn't listen to his girlfriend earlier.

His romantic vacation suddenly turned into a very bad movie.

* * *

_"Piers! Open the goddamn door - that's an order!"_

_Piers' eyes were empty as he stared back at the pleading Captain inside the spherical escape pod. As the escape pod powered up, Piers gave one satisfied smirk as he watched the pod launched out into the open waters._

_As the water found its way into where he was, Piers' mutated arm surged with a powerful force of electricty as he felt the last of his humanity was stripped away from him._

_Just one more thing left to do._

Piers Nivans took a very heavy gasp as his left eyes shot open. He flinched to the direct contact with the light as he struggled to turn to his side, grunting unevenly.

He was alone - there was no one in vicinity. On the beach. Still in the bag. It took him a lot of efforts to roll himself off the drenched bag. He must have floated up the shore.

For a moment, he completely at loss at who he was and even his own name. All he could recall was the last bits moments that flashed through him moments ago. He didn't even remember himself being a human. "Who... am... I?" He spoke to himself as he raised his left human arm to his face, surprised that he actually remembered to speak in English. But not his own name, sadly.

But then it struck him, the flashbacks that happened before he awoke from his deep slumber. The bulky man was his Captain, his superior and his name was... Chris Red-something. And this Chris called him... Piers.

"I'm... Piers... Nivans."

* * *

**A.N: I actually wanted it to be a one-shot. But I guess it was a little too long for that so I'll break it into two parts (or maybe three).**

**Again, the whole idea of the story will be credited to CoolCat0720.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimers: I do not own anything out of Resident Evil. All of the contents belonged to Capcom.**

_Part Two_

* * *

**1 March 2014  
Somewhere around China**

Right. His name was Piers Nivans. He was in the BSAA. He was one of the best snipers the BSAA. And he was in this particular Chris' team.

Then why was he here looking so very unhuman? _'I was in a mission with Chris to rescue... someone. Then we got attack by a gigantic BOW. And... Oh, right, I injected myself with the C-Virus... And then, I became like... this." _He released a deep breath when his memories slowly resurfaced.

He gurgled a bit, making noises as Piers trying to take in the surrounding around him. To be sure, he was at a beach, most probably washed ashore. It was already dusk and there was no one around him.

Suddenly, a piercing pain struck his whole figure. More particular the right side of his build where he had been mutated the most. Piers screamed to contain the sudden overwhelming pain; it felt like a huge snake gliding around his body. He thrashed about when the pain gone instantly, only to be replaced by a burning heat all over his mutated arm.

His scream was now a breathless one as he watched half-lidded when the squid-like arm of his disintegrated into reddish pile of ash. _'Good riddance.' _He thought, he himself didn't wanted look like a BOW either. He thought it was over, but he felt another bubbling pain around the shoulder.

Then a new arm emerge from where he lost his. Sprouting out in the most violent manner.

The newly revived Nivans gave out another scream, and this time he thought that he had broke a few vocal chords in his lungs.

It took him long minutes before he was able to recuperate from the previous assault. He slowly peeled his eyes open, only to be greeted with the sight of a very humanoid right arm. Although it was riddled with blue-ish lines that didn't supposed to be there, at least it look human enough. Piers balled his newborn hand into a fist, then relaxed it, then repeat the process several time.

It felt normal enough.

As though as he was about to pulled into a grin, his face burned in a similar fashion his arm was. The young BSAA rolled off the sand, trying to muffle the next wave of screams. It was then when there was foreign noises coming from a far distance.

"Freeze!"

Through the excruciating pain, all Piers could make out was red and blue lights from a far distance. They were people, raising guns and all. _'Shit. The cops.' _He thought vaguely before he knew that he need to get away from the authority. Piers climbed to his feet despite the piercing pain all over his face, remembering that all J'avos will be shot on sight (he knew that he looked like one).

"Damn it! Will you stop and make things easier for us, you damned freak?!"

Piers fled to his left, even though he was completely oblivious where it will lead to. A barrage of bullet went flying to his direction and Piers staggered a few steps before he could fully recompose himself.

As tired as he already was, Piers ended up falling back on his knee when a few shots hit him. "Shit..." he muttered, knowing that he was done for. As the policemen with their firearms closing in, Piers turned to face them with exhausted eyes. The six policemen, each with their assault rifles and handguns pointed the weapons to him, "That's right, stay put and let us finish you quickly, J'avo."

The BSAA tried to speak, but only an inaudible noise came through. Having no mean to fight back, Piers could only stare at them as he pushed his body backwards.

Next thing he knew, a strong surge of energy jolted through his every fibre as Piers released a powerful shriek. Electric waves went wildly over the air and instinctively, Piers pushed his blue-ish arm to the policemen, causing them to knock backwards to the ground due to an unknown force.

"Whoa." Piers uttered as he watched that the poor men trembled on the ground, stunned by his newfound power, the electricity by the C-Virus; not that he was too happy about it.

Seeing that there was no one else coming after him, Nivans quickly carried his feet away from the beach.

* * *

_'I need to find Captain.'_

It was all he ever thought about when he stumbled through the streets and alleyways. It was already night time when he had reached civilisation and he was glad that nobody saw him, he definitely looked like a big piece of mess.

As he hid in the shadows, Piers discarded his BSAA upper uniform, thinking that it was too bloodied to be seen on the streets. And it smell gross too.

To be sure, he was in China. He saw the Chinese street boards and people speaking in Chinese all over. Funny, he thought, how he was brought back here.

Leaning his back against the wall, Piers exhales as he caught his breath after running for so long. It was odd for him, to be hiding like a fugitive. He was once a BSAA unit, one of the best too. And now he have to hide away from people sight due to his C-Virus abilities.

_'Where the hell should I start?'_

**"Umm... Are you alright, mister?"**

The soft voice had Piers flinched as he backed away slightly to the one speaking Chinese to him. He jumped back slightly into an aggressive position until he regretted doing.

It was only a little girl, on her eight or something, looking very innocent.

She fell back and landed on her buttock due to Piers' sudden movements. The young girl whimpered a low 'Ow' as she rubbed the spot where she landed roughly. Piers immediately went over to her and offered his hand to her, forgetting that he was looking like a J'avo, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

The girl stare at him with jaw dropped, until Piers retreated when he suddenly realized his own appearance, "...Sorry, I know I look like a freakshow."

**"Why do have a big scar on your face, mister?"**

"Huh?" Piers raised an eyebrow, the girl was speaking in a language he couldn't understand.

The female slowly approached him, "You don't know Chinese?" She asked in English, accented with a deep Asian accent.

"No. I don't look scary to you? Not like a J'avo?"

She shook her head reluctantly, but she knelt next to the almost horrified Piers, "...No. You don't look like one. But the scar on your face looks scary."

Scar? What scar?

* * *

**2 months later, 3rd May 2014  
China**

He wouldn't say that he was very happy with the life he had with him now, but it was better than nothing.

Piers Nivans, once a very proud soldier serving the BSAA could now only work in the back of a small humble Chinese restaurant. As a dishwasher or sometimes he would help around the kitchen, although he was absolutely clueless about culinary.

Ever since his encounter with the young girl at the alleyway two months ago, Piers' life change. At least for the better, he now had a job and a roof above his head everyday. Although he still tried not to come in contact with anyone at all.

And one thing he didn't change for the better, he was now very afraid to look at the mirror or to anything that would reflect light. He was very afraid to the image that would form itself whenever he saw one. It was his newfound scar - one that shaped like a broken crescent covering a large part of his face. The scar was thick and clumsy and it certainly made him look... wrong.

"Mr. Piers?"

He was sitting on a short stool attending to the dishes when he knew someone called him. Turning over to look at his shoulders, he smiled to small figure, "Hey, Lin, what's up?"

She was the only girl, most probably in the world that didn't mind his appearance, the only eight years old. Kids were always so innocent. Most become very repulsive whenever it came to the mysterious Piers Nivans, most trying to avoid any form of conversation whenever it came to him, but it made him felt easier. Mainly because of his electrical abilities that he never knew when it would unleashed itself.

She stood directly behind him which force him to turn around to face her, Piers gave out a warm smile, "Is something wrong, Linnie?"

She giggled at the nickname he gave her, "About this BASS or SBAA..."

"It's BSAA." He corrected her.

"Yeah, BSAA. I heard you talking about them with Mama. What is it about?"

Piers let out a sigh, so his little saviour had over heard the discussion he had with her mother. It ended a total failure though, the old woman refused to listen to him. She merely brushed him off whenever he tried talking to her.

"The BSAA was where I used to work for. I need to find them."

"Why?"

He never really saw that coming, not from her anyway, but he'll be honest with her, "So... I can go home."

* * *

**5th May 2014  
China**

"So, you're saying that the men were attacked by electricity?"

Chris Redfield looked unusual hyped when it comes to anything that could lead him to Piers Nivans. The policeman sitting opposite to him nodded weakly, "Yes. But he had escaped two months ago, and we had no means to find him.

"It shouldn't be that hard. Considering that he looked like a J'avo or a BOW..."

Then the policeman shook his head furiously in defiance, he opened his mouth as if trying to said something but then stopped for a moment. He took a deep breath and admitted, "Well, he did look like a J'avo when we found him but... he changed. How do I say this? Mr. Nivans was transforming when we had reached him."

"Transforming?"

"Yes, sir. Do we need to issue a search for him?"

Daylight in China was very different from where he went a year ago in Lanshiang. While it was chaos back then, China in its normal times was as lively as in New York.

Having lost the only lead that would help him find Piers Nivans, Chris wandered the city aimlessly trying to calm his nerves. Although he had assumed that Piers Nivans had already dead two months ago, he was now told that he was still alive and was somewhere here in China.

But the problem was, he didn't know where to find him. There could be so many possibilities about him for now. Piers could been in a hiding now, or maybe he had caught a ship back to the States or maybe he was shot dead by other policemen that happened to see him in his dire state.

"Shit."

No, not that. Of course not.

Chris scratched his head impulsively, trying to shake away all the bad thoughts. Piers was a lot tougher than that, and now that the Chinese police had issue a warrant after him, Piers won't be harmed for certain.

All he can do for now was to wait for the good news.

So he decided to kick in at the local bar.

* * *

**8th May 2014**

He was at his regular days doing chores for the Chinese restaurant - cleaning dishes and prepping the ingredients. Piers had his hands at the job for some time that he was staring to get a knack on it. It wasn't so bad, having to wash the filth away from small porcelain surfaces and to chop things into small pieces if they were to compare his times in the BSAA when he had to snipe BOW on their weak spots or to brainwreck himself to find escape route.

But he definitely missed his very adventurous life. Working in a restaurant might be fairly easy for a man like him, but it got dull and boring. You can never expect anything when you are in the BSAA.

Piers wiped the bead of sweat forming along his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt as he placed the final plate on the stack of dishes on the counter. He grinned in satisfactory, his work was sparkling clean, "There you go."

As he pulled the sleeves down his arm and stood up, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. It was Lin's father, whom he knew his habits, "Good job, Piers. You can go back to your room and get some rest. We'll send you dinner."

"Thank you." Piers replied half-heartedly, what's with the sudden hospitality?

But Piers didn't want to question further, he won't get an answer anyway. So he marched to his room up the stairs, his room was on top of the building.

As he practically threw himself to the soft mattress, he suddenly realized that it wasn't the sleep was he needed.

He needed a drink. Beer, wine, vodka, whiskey, tequila, anything that had alcohol in it. But beer, an ice cold beer was exactly what he needed.

It's been a long while since he had a nice drink for himself. It was very unusual for him to have this alcohol crave but he just can't help it. Ever since he had been taken in by this kind family (mostly because of Lin), he had never tasted anything strong other than tea or soda. Such a strict family they were, Piers were mildly surprised by their 'No-Alcohol' rules in this house mainly due to the presence of small children in the house.

"Uncle Piers?" A soft knocking came through the door. Piers immediately jumped out from his bed and went to answer the knocking. It was Lin, as expected, holding a tray of noodle and a glass of tea. Taking the tray from her small hands, Piers motioned her to some in and set the tray over at the small desk in his room where he always had his meal, "Thanks for sending me food, Linnie."

Lin jumped to his bed while Piers help himself to the food, slurping down the noodle hungrily.

"Mama was talking about you just now." She blurted out suddenly as she was fiddling with the corner of his sheets. Piers' chewing slowed, as Lin continued, "She said that she saw pictures of you all over the town. Saying that the police want to find you. She said that you're a bad guy."

Swallowing the mouthful of food, Piers looked at the little girl as he slowly asked, "Do you think I'm one?"

She shook her head easily, "No. You're a good guy, even with that scary scar. You never did anything bad to me. I think you are even nicer than mama. She always yelled at me." She whined childishly. Kids will be kids. Then she pouted, clapping her hands as if she remembered something, "Oh, and she said about the BASS too! She said that there was this Captain Redflag? Redfeet? I forgot the name, but mama said maybe he was looking for you. Maybe he can bring you home!"

BSAA? Captain? Home?

"It's BSAA, Lin. And Captain Redfield." He corrected her as he sipped his tea, leaving the innocent child to laugh heartily to herself.

But deep down inside, Piers was uncertain.

* * *

His eyes were tired and weary, but he refused to sleep.

As the ex-BSAA stared at the ceiling above him, his mind fluttered everywhere.

It's only the matter of time before his Captain find him. He can always turn himself in at the nearest police station and return to the States. Becoming the BSAA's best unit they had.

But as he grazed his finger to the thick scar that went a few millimeters above his skin, he began to doubt himself. Will he still be the same sniper he used to be? He was infected with the C-Virus and the BSAA's duty was to hunt any infectants. Plus, now he looked like a freakshow, with his hideous scar on his face and his arm sparks electricity from time to time.

Even Lin knew that but instead of repulsing, she felt fascinated by his ability, much to his dismay.

Piers twisted his body to his side as he pulled the sheets over his head, shielding himself from the streetlights.

It was very ironic for him, he thought. He had always wished to return to the BSAA. He had been offered the chance now, but he was now torn apart.

Will he stay?

* * *

**A.N: I'll be honest, I never expect how this fic turned out to be.**

**Initially, I wanted it to be Piers hiding around China waiting to be rescued by the BSAA. I wrote that at first, but I felt like it's a little too repetitive having him to hide in the alley, then to the dumpster, then up the building over and over again. So, I scrapped the whole idea. **

**Must have because I've just finished The Walking Dead (I've finally got Chapter 5! Now I see why it Telltale got awards raining them all over. No spoilers intended), then came out this Lin and I think that it's a pretty good idea. Having Piers Nivan to care for a child.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimers: I do not own anything out of Resident Evil. All of the contents belonged to Capcom.**

_Part 3_

* * *

It was very early in the morning when Piers decided to drag himself up from the bed. It was still very early that the sky was still dark, but he was very sure that it will brighten up soon. He saw the light hue of blue on in the midst of the blackness.

In the end, he still couldn't make up his mind.

He was indecisive. He simply couldn't choose. And he knew that he need to think about it as hard as he could as his final decision will decide how he will live the rest of his life. Will he return to the BSAA to hunt down BOWs despite his very gruesome appearance? Or will he stay here in this small family for a simple life of servitude?

Splashing his face with the water, Piers bent his torso upwards as he faced the smooth surface of the mirror with cracked edge. The C-Virus must have been merciful to him, at least he didn't have a third eye and all that remained on his face was that huge scar that ran across his forehead to his lower right jaw. Lin was right, he didn't look like a J'avo with their very odd skin complexion and having their blood capillaries exposed all over the skin.

The scar didn't make him look like a J'avo. But it made him look like he got into an accident - a very bad accident.

But he still wasn't the same Piers Nivan anymore.

As Piers stepped into the cold shower and let the icy water ran through his back, he couldn't help but to wonder.

If it was before he was accepted into this humble family, Piers would not hesitate to rejoin the BSAA. He can easily forget that he was indeed infected by the C-Virus.

But after spending more time with them, especially with Lin's company, it made Piers realized how much that he wanted a simple life for himself. Not chasing BOWs all across the globe.

Giving his right, blue-ish arm one last glance, Piers grumbled as he pulled the sleeves down and exited his room, "Shit."

* * *

He tried to act as normal as possible. But of course failing miserably.

Lin's father, as the manager of the restaurant, had caught Piers dozing off several times in a day where he was staring into the empty space. His work was barely done, for a chores that would take him an hour, it took him thrice the time.

As he returned to the corner to resume his work after a quick lecture by the manager, Piers was still the same. Millions of thought went through his mind.

It took him long enough that he finally completes his daily chores. Luckily for him, the restaurant was closing early tonight so he didn't need to rush things.

"Damn, man. Finally." Although it was the same amount of work, Piers felt like it was doubled mainly because he was not in his working mood. Wiping the grease on his finger to his shirt, Piers was ready to return to his room and waited for dinner to be served. As he walked passed the third floor, which happened to be the family's home, he saw that Lin, along with her parents and her old granny was having dinner together. (They had invited him to have dinner together, but Piers insisted that he will have his on his own)

Must be nice to have a family like that.

He was about to climb the next stair when he heard his name was being mentioned.

"Do you think that Piers was the guy in the posters all over? His hair look so much like it. If he didn't have the scar on his face..." The gruff voice of Lin's father had Piers pressing his forehead to the wall to eavedrop. They were speaking in English, thank god they were Chinese-Americans.

Like that bitch Ada Wong who had an excellent English accent.

"If that's true, then we can't have him in our house. If the BSAA wants him, then something must be wrong with him. He might be a spy J'avo or something. Just look at his face and his weird arm! I saw him sparks electric that day!" The old woman supported her son's statement. _'Shit.' _It flashed through Piers' mind. But when the voice of the little girl spoke up defensively, Piers wanted to give her a bear hug.

"Don't say that about Uncle Piers, grandma! He's a good guy! He's not a J'avo! Uncle Piers said that BASS was where he used to work for!"

_'C'mon, Lin, when are you going to get the BSAA right?'_

Piers felt somewhat relieved that Lin back him up.

Then Lin's mother, who was sitting next to her daughter agreed, "Well, since Piers came, he never really caused us any trouble. But if he is really who the BSAA want, then we have to do something about it."

Of all of the sudden, Piers felt like all his energy was sapped away from his very own body. He felt exhausted and weak.

His time to choose to between to turn himself in to Captain Redfield and to confess himelf to the family was getting shorter. He need to choose fast or it won't be soon before the family will turn Piers themselves.

He didn't bother to listen more as he climbed to his room.

* * *

As he sat with his dinner on the small desk, he could barely even touch it. The smell of the food even made him gagged slightly; not because the food was bad but his appetite just wasn't there. Although his stomach was grumbling and growling for the bowl of hot steamy food.

Lin sat on the edge of the bed like she usually did. It became a bad habit for her to stay and watch him eat while he was talking. He took a spoonful of food, but chewed very slowly, and Lin noticed that, "Is the food bad?" the eight years old asked softly.

Piers shook his head before setting down the cutlery he had in his hand, "Nah. I just... not in the mood."

"Is it about the BSAA mama and papa talking about?"

Not bad, for an eight years old. But she's turning nine in the next six days.

It took effort to swallow the food, but the ex-BSAA nodded, admitting defeat. Lin's fingers fiddled with the sheets as her legs swung back and forth, "So... are you really leaving us to go to the BSAA?"

He remained silent for a moment, chewing the next spoon of food longer than it was necessary.

He don't have a choice now, didn't he? Even if he remained to pretend to be completely oblivious to the whole situation, sooner or later, Captain Redfield will find him here. It's better to tell her the truth.

"Maybe." Piers could only say that much. He will not sugar-coat it.

From what he can see, she was clearly upset by his answer. She gulped once before asked him shakingly again, "What exactly did the BSAA do? Why did they want you to go there?"

Time for some G-rated bedtime story, he thought. "The BSAA... what they do is that they find the J'avos and other monsters and stop them. To keep people safe." Seems legit for a eight years old, "And they want me back because they need me to help them stopping the ugly monsters." Piers supposed that she couldn't understand the word 'BOW'. Bio organic weapon, a little too much for someone as young as her.

"Like a superhero? So, they want you back so that you can be a superhero?"

That sounds very legit. A superhero. Yeah, everyone on the BSAA were superheroes. Superheroes who would die for the world. Piers nodded easily, sitting on the bed next to her as he patted her short black hair, "Yeah, Linnie."

* * *

Later, he found her dozing off on his lap. She looked very cute, very serene when she was sleeping. It was obvious to him that she enjoyed his company. He did too likewise.

Piers Nivans suddenly found himself feeling very happy to have a child to care for, he felt privileged to become her big brother (despite that she kept calling him uncle). He never had a younger sibling or anyone to care for back in those days so his firsthand experience was definitely enjoyable.

But he knew that he won't stay like this forever. After all, he belonged to the BSAA and he must return there someday. And that day was very soon.

Lifting her up into his arms, Piers carried her carefully to her own room downstairs. Her parents saw them, but they made no move to stop him as Lin's father opened the door to Lin's room for him. Piers settled the young girl to her bed as she pulled the covers up to her shoulders. She was sound asleep.

He tip-toed out of her room quietly as he closed the door behind him. As expected, the family decided to confront Piers about the whole deal with the BSAA. But before they can say anything, Piers had already fulfilled their wish.

"I'm going to the BSAA tomorrow."

_'I will be her superhero, the least.'_

He said with much determination.

* * *

**3 days later**

The reunion with his Captain and the BSAA was a pleasant one. More so, it ended very well for him.

The moment that Chris Redfield saw his long-lost comrade, he was given a crushing hug, a brotherly handshake and the 'interrogation' session they had at the Far East branch of BSAA was more like a chatting between two close friends.

It didn't take long for them before they found themselves in a local bar with several other BSAA members who flew to China just to see the supposely deceased Piers. The best things was, no one seemed to mind Piers new horrific scar on his face as they cheered for him when he announced that he will be rejoining the BSAA, much to his relief. They were the noisiest on the small bar but the other customers didn't mind one bit because Chris decided that the next round will be his.

A fresh start. A fresh game.

"Glad to see that you're still in the BSAA, Captain." Piers said as he chugged his beer down. He was now sitting in a more quiet corner of the bar with Chris, who had another bottle in his hand.

Chris took a gulp before reaching out for his pocket to show him the emblem Piers left for him on the facility, "You were right about it, when you said that I could still be of use to the BSAA."

"Thanks, Captain."

Chris shrugged, a little tipsy from the drinks he had previously with the other BSAA units, "There's still some paperwork and procedures to be done before you can get your ass back to the BSAA. I'll handle them. It's nice that you'll be returning to us. You're the best damn sniper I ever had." His words were a little slurred but Piers caught his meanings.

"Sure. But there's one more thing I need to tell you, Captain."

"Oh?"

Finishing the last drop of the alcoholic beverage he had in his hand, Piers smirked up to his Captain as he confessed, "I'm not going back to the States. I'm staying."

* * *

**A year later  
China**

"Give it back, Shin!"

Her high pitched shriek had the boys laughing even louder as they threw the school bag above the air where Lin couldn't reach. Her female friends could only watch in symphaty as they could do nothing to stop the bullies.

A very typical and common scene on a school. But still very annoying.

She was on the verge of tears as she pleaded with the plumpy boy who was now in possesion of her schoolbag, "Please!"

As the child ignored her and hovered her belongings to another friend at the other side, a long pair of arms suddenly caught the bag mid-air before it could reach the other person standing behind Lin. His height easily towered the rest of the group as he handed the bag to the original owner before turning to the head of the bullies.

"At your young age and you're already picking on the girls? That will not make you a man." He said smoothly. The children was in awe as they stared at Lin's saviour. He was dressed from head to toe in the BSAA uniform and adorned on his emblem was the 'BSAA Far East Branch SOA'

He walked back to Lin as he brushed her hair lightly. Turning his head slightly to the boys one last time, he said it loud and clear, "Next time you pick on people, come see me instead. I am always up for one."

He didn't even to ook back to them and he knew that they had already scrambled away to wherever they wanted.

Lin froze on where she was, her friends who were now standing next to her were also staring at him with wide eyes.

"Hey, Linnie. Ready to head home? Your mom said the restaurant been busy so she asked me to pick you up."

She beamed in excitement as she squeezed her arms around his broad frame, "So you're driving me home? Great!"

But of course, she had one last thing to do before she will leave the scene. Pushing her companion ahead of her to her friends of the same age, she said almost proudly.

"Meet Uncle Piers. He's a superhero who worked on the BASS."

And he grunted. For the same reason over and over again.

"It's BSAA, Linnie."

**_Fin_**

* * *

**A.N: So that's it, folks. I've done a Piers fic! Hopefully it's legit enough. :)**

**I would like give my thanks to CoolCat0720for suggesting me a Piers fic in the first place. Credits for CoolCat too for the first part of the fic (It was CoolCat's idea). My thanks too to anyone who reviewed/favourited/followed/read this fic. XD**

**Til then, I hope you enjoy this so far.**

**P.S: So, yeah, if any of you happen to be a Jake/Sherry fan (For an extent, I am an avid fan), come give me a visit. I welcome it wholly. And if you don't (or haven't), you should start now. *wink***

CK - Ace


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